An Unforeseen Blessing

She worked all through high school: fast food, nannying, secretarial duties, elderly care, and anything else that helped her pad her savings account. She kept her grades up, studied for the ACT, and got accepted to BYU-Idaho. But life isn’t always fair—not even for the nicest, most hard-working LDS college students. Sometimes, even your best just isn’t enough.

Selina Mayne, from Sacramento, California, would need just a little help from her parents to make ends meet. But the summer after she was accepted to Brigham Young University-Idaho, her father lost his job and that extra little bit disappeared.

“My parents had no way to support me through my schooling,” Selina remembers. “We were pretty much living off my dad’s retirement.”

With five siblings, including one with special needs, Selina knew her only recourse was to do what she had always done: work hard. She would simply have to do more of it and hope it was enough.

“I knew my parents couldn’t take care of me for the rest of my life,” she says, “so my mind-set was always to work hard.”

Late in August, Selina was on a rare trip to the beach when a friend said something about getting a scholarship. Suddenly, Selina remembered the scholarship application her mother had prodded her to submit months before.

“I said, ‘You got a scholarship already?’” Selina remembers. “I checked my email on my phone, and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness—I got a half-tuition scholarship!’ I was so happy, I was shaking!

“When I applied for that scholarship, I didn’t think I’d need it. And I didn’t really think I’d get anything because there are so many good students who go to BYU-Idaho. But when I received it, I really felt in that moment that, with everything going on with my family, I deserved it.”

As a freshman, Selina worked at the student eatery and served as a Relief Society president in her ward. In her sophomore year, she took some time off to serve a mission. But when she gets back, she’ll be getting the most out of her education—thanks to scholarship funds donated by someone like you.

“That scholarship taught me to take what I have and really use it,” she says with a smile. “I’m not just going to cruise on through college. I’m here to get an education, and I want to take it seriously.”

LDS Philanthropies, a department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is responsible for philanthropic contributions to the Church and its affiliated programs and institutions, including: